Home Retail blames weather for sales dip

HOME Retail Group, the UK's biggest household goods retailer, blamed snow in January for sales falling at its Argos and Homebase chains, but said annual profits would be slightly ahead of current market hopes.

Sales at its catalogue-based Argos stores open over a year fell 9.4 per cent in the eight weeks to 27 February, the bulk of the group's fourth quarter, it said in an end-of-year trading statement. Sales at DIY chain Homebase were down 0.6 per cent on the same basis.

However, the group said it expected to make pre-tax profits of around 290 million for the year to 27 February, ahead of expectations of 285m.